11-year-old, inspired by Malverne dentist, becomes one

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Not many people go into a dental appointment thinking it is going to change the course of their life.

But it happened in 1999 when Dilmarys Peña, an 11-year-old Malverne girl, had a routine check-up with Dr. Steven Katz, proprietor of Smiles on Broadway Dental Care. At the conclusion of her appointment, the young girl turned to Katz and asked, “What is it like to be a dentist?” Katz embraced her curiosity and invited her to the office on the following Saturday to shadow him and see for herself.

Now 17 years later, Peña, a recent graduate of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry — is a Doctor of Dental Surgery, and a permanent part of Katz’s staff at Smiles on Broadway.

“It is rare when a child can confidently profess an intention to pursue a specific career path,” Katz said in a recent statement. “It is even more rare when those aspirations come true.” Peña recalled she was taken by the office from the minute she stepped in. “The philosophy of this office, and overall aura that they have just drew me in,” said Peña. “Dr. Katz’s demeanor as he was working – he was laughing, joking but still working hard. I got caught up with it. And I don’t know — there’s something about teeth. You either love them or you don’t,” she said.

Peña literally spent years working at Katz’s office as a child. From ages 11-13, she shadowed Katz, watching him work, and doing office tasks. By age 13, she was already a fully-trained clinical dental assistant, but unable to be paid because of her age, and was instead rewarded with gift certificates to her favorite store.

By age 14, the dental office had a ceremony to celebrate her officially becoming employed. When presented with her first check and asked how she was going to spend it, Peña said she was going to put half away from college and use the other half to buy a DVD for her grandmother. She worked two afternoons each week and Saturdays until she left to attend Binghamton University.

When Peña told Katz, during her junior year at Binghamton that she would be applying to dental school, he tucked away in his mind that someday he would welcome her back to his office with the “Dr.” title preceding her name.

“I teach residents at North Shore Hospital, and I coach 40 business practices, so we see many young dentists in those practices,” said Katz. “I have yet to encounter anybody who has Dr. Peña’s story,” he said.

“When you look around and see all this,” said Peña while sitting in Katz’s office, which is full of awards, commendations and memorabilia, “you’re just aspiring to be as close as you can to your mentor.” Katz’s long dental career — he’s had an office in Malverne for 32 years — has included a position as team dentist to the New York Jets and a dental consultant to Fox News.